Can-capping machine.



E. S. HUGUNINE.

CAN CAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, I9I2.

Patented June 8, 1915.

INVENTOR S.

BYWH mp a: aa

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTC-LITHO-v WASHINGTONv D. C.

E. S. HUGUNINE.

CAN CAPPING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, m2.

Patented June 8, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

INVENTOR ATTOFWEYS THE NORRIS PETERS C0,, FHDTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D4 c E. S. HUGUNINEJ CAN CAPPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 29. I912.

1;142,,l564. PatentedJune 8,1915.

3 S HEETS-SHEET a.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR v BYWKW W ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS CQJ. PHOmL|THO.. WASHINGTON, D, C.

EDWARD s. HUGUNINE; or ROME, NEW YORK.

' CAN-CAPPING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters-Patent.

Patented June 8, 1915.

Application filed April 29, 1912.. Serial No. 693,7 1.

useful Improvements in Can-Capping Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings and to the reference-numerals marked thereon, which form part of this specification. v

My present invention relates to machines known as can capping machines which are devices used in the canning industries to place the caps upon cans that have been filled. These devices are usually interposed between the can filling machineand the can soldering machine. A large part of the can capping however is still done by hand on account of the complexity of the machines heretofore devised and their not being able to do the work with sufficient regularity or on account of their not being able to be readily adjusted to different sized .cans or different makes of cans or can caps.

The object of my invention is to provide a can capping machine that is simple in construction, eflicient and reliable in operation and not liable to get out of order.

A further object is-to provide a can capping machine that can be used without modi fication or at least very little modificatiou for different sizes and different patterns or makes of cans and can caps. Heretofore most of the machines for this purpose have required a considerable expenditure of power for operation on account of the number and character of the moving parts which were necessitated from the machines operating on the principle of carrying a cap some distance to the can. This carrying of the cap and also the separating of the cap from the source of supply or the moving of the source of supply temporarily from a cap were difficult motions to accomplish satisfactorily on account of the speed at which the cans must be sent through the machine and on account of the comparative lightness of the can cap together with the fact that it had tobe placed very accur'ately upon each succeeding can. One of the main "pur- V I poses of my invention is to obviate these disadvantages and I accomplish this pur-.

pose byplacing my supply of can caps directly over 'the line of travel of the cans and making my machine in effect simply an escapement device that will allow the lowermost cap to fall a small fraction of an inch directly on to. the can to be capped.-

This release of the lowermost cap is efl'ected through a system of levers directly actuated by the coming into proper position of each can. In operative connection with said releasing means are means for holding the supply of caps above thelower one so that only one cap'will fall upon any can. Upon the passing on of the can after it has been capped the lower fingers of the escapement mechanism again come into place to hold the thenlowest cap and the supply ofcaps are allowed to rest upon these fingers ready for another capping operation. v

A further object of my invention is to provide a machine of this class which can be readily and positively adjusted to accommodate the machine to any speed of feed of the cans to be capped.

A further object is to provide a means of supporting the main portion of the escapement mechanism in pivotal relation with the trough through which the cans pass to the end that should a can come through out of position it will simply raise the escapement mechanism on its pivotal bearings and not make a jam of cans on themachine. llhis pivotal support of the escapement mechanism is so arranged that no adjustment of parts is lost by reason-of the escapement mechanism being so raised by a can or to make any repairs to or inspection of the machine. 1.

Figure 1 IS a front elevation of a can capping machine embodying my invention.

is asectional view on .line 4=4 of Fig. 3

also on an enlarged scale with the parts in the position they assume just after a cap has-been dropped and before the mechanism has been returned to first or normal position.

In this view there is also suggested the 'posi tion of the operating levers to the right during this stage of the operation.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description a strong chute 10 extending from the can-filling machine (not shown) to the can-capping machine (not shown) is provided with side guides 11 between which the cans 12 to be capped are advanced by suitable means such as by an endless chain 13 having upwardly extending carrier clips 14 to bear against the rear side of the cans and push them along the chute. Suitably secured on either side of the chute 10 are upright supports 15 on the right hand side and 16 upon the left hand side extending a little above the height of the largest cans to be operated upon by the machine. Near the top of these supports there are rigidly secured arms 17 and 18 respectively extending in a general horizontal direction some distance to the right as shown in Fig. 2 which is the direction from which the cans come. Near the outer ends of these arms are pivotally mounted upper arms 19 and 20 respectively extending forward along the line of arms 17 and 18 to a point just outside the upper end of the upright supports 15 and 16 where they are rigidly secured to a bridge 21 extending across the chute 10 a little above the top of the cans 12. The upper ends of the upright supports 15 and 16 are cut away to the left as seen in Fig. 2 to form a shoulder 22 upon which rests the bridge 21 while the narrowed upper ends 23 fit into a guideway formed by lugs 24 and 25 spaced apart and projecting rearwardly from the bridge 21. Set screws 26 extending through the bridge 21 so as to bear upon the shoulders 22 on the upright supports 15 and 16 provide ready means for accurately adjusting the normal level of the bridge 21 which adjustment it will be obvious will not be interrupted by the swinging of the bridge 21 upwardly by means of the pivotal connection between the two pairs of arms 17 and 18 rigidly fixed to the uprights and the upper arms 19 and 20 rigidly fixed to the bridge. From a bracket 27 upon the right hand upright support 15 is secured a rearwardly extending rigid arm 28 to the rearward end of which is pivotally mounted a lever 29 by means of a slot therein through which extends a pin secured to the rigid arm 28 near its rear end. The rear end of the lever 29 is turned up to form a short upright portion 32 in which is mounted a set screw 33 bearing against the pin 31 and thereby effecting a longitudinal adjustment of the lever 29. To the front or left end of the lever 29 is secured a rigid arm 34 reaching in front of the upright 15 and having on its free end a revolubly mounted disk 35 extending into the line of travel of cans in chute 10so that the movement of a can past the disk 35 operates to move the lever 29 slotted bracket 38 which extends from the upright support 15. Below its pivoting point the lever 36 is bent to the left as viewed in Fig. l and there provided with a weight 39 of sufficient weight to force the upper part of the lever 36 toward the chute after each can has passed out of contact with the disk 35. At the upper end of the perpendicular lever 36 an open topped slot 40 slidingly and pivotally connects said lever 36 to another upright lever 41 by means of a headed projection 42 at the lower end of said lever 41. The lever 41 is pivotally mounted at 43 upon the right hand end of the bridge 21. Upon the opposite or left hand end of the bridge 21 is pivotally mounted at 44 a short upright lever 45. Just above the upper end of lever 36 the upright lever 41 is operatively connected by means of a connecting rod 46 to the upper end of lever 45. The connecting rod 46 is pivotally connected to lever 41 the same distance below the pivotal point of said lever 41 on the bridge 21 as itsleft hand end is pivotally connected above the pivotal point 44 of the lever 45 so that as the lever 41 is moved by lever 36 a like movement relative to its position to the chute is imparted to the lever 45.

Perpendicularly through the bridge 21 directly over the center of the line of travel of the cans 12 is provided a circular opening 46 of such diameter as to just allow the can caps 47 to pass freely therethrough. A semi-circular trough 48 open on top extends from the rear side of this opening 46 preferably in a rearwardly slanting direction for a suilicient distance to form an open reservoir into which a supply of the can caps may be placed or to connect with a main supply of can caps if desired. This trough may be supported by a brace 49 having its lower ends secured to the arms 19 and 20. A. guide 59 adjustably mounted upon the bridge 21 just forward of the circular opening 46 and preferably curving rearwardly guards against the can caps becoming displaced and aids in bringing them to a horizontal position in the opening 46. In the bridge 21 to either side of the feed opening 46 are slidingly mounted fingers 51 and. 52 to the right and left respectively adapted to have their inner ends and 54 respectively extended into and withdrawn from oppositely located points near the bottom of the feed opening 46. The outer ends 55 and 56 respectively of these sliding fingers are positively secured to connecting rods 57 and 58 which are ex tended outwardly into pivotal connection with the upright levers 41 and 45 respec tively below the pivoting points of said up right levers. Immediately above the sliding fingers 51 and 52 are slidingly mounted in the bridge 21 sliding arms59 and 60 to the right and left respectively likewise having their inner ends 61 and 62 respectively adapted to be extended into and withdrawn from the feed opening 46 while their outer ends have slidingly connected thereto connecting rods 63 and 64 to the right and left respectively of which the outer ends are pivotally connected to the upright levers 41 and 45 at points 65 and 66 respectively above the pivoting points of said upright levers.

The connecting rods 63 and 64 are slidingly connected with the outer ends of the sliding arms 59 and 60 respectively as by having the rods slide through openings 1n the upturned ends of these arms while springs 67 coiled around these connecting rods and bearing against the upturned ends of the arms 59 and 60 tend to force the arms inwardly to the limit of their motion against the enlarged ends or heads 68 upon the con necting rods 63 and 64. It will be seen therefore that an inward motion of the connecting rods 63 and 64 cause the arms 59 and 60 to move inwardly not positivelybut by the arms 59 and 60. Upon such inward motion of the arms 59 and 60 their inner ends or faces 61 and 62 come into spring pressure engagement with the caps immediately above the lowermost cap and hold these upper caps and the caps thereabove from any downward movement as long as sufficient spring pressure is exerted by these holding arms. I Preferably small points 69 near the bottom of the arm ends 61 and 62 extend outwardly a short distance to enter the small recess between the edges of the lower cap and the one next above. These small entering points add to the positiveness of the hold as against the next to the lowest cap and assist in dislodging the lower cap should it have become stuck tofthe one next above. The point, however, is not intended to enter far between the lower cap and the one next above as the main holding by the arms 59 and 60 is a spring pressure hold against the outer edges of the caps between the main faces of the arm ends 61 and62. The lowermost cap resting upon the holding finger ends 53 and 54 is intended to drop by own weight upon the withdrawal of said,

of the carrier chain 13 and one of its clips;

14 under the bridge 21. the can near its base comes into contact with the disk 35 and in an obvious manner forces the arm 34 outwardly carrying therewith lever 29 the upperend of lever 36. This movement imparts an outward movement to the lower end of upright-lever 41 and a similar movement to the lower end of lever 45 on the other side of the can by means of connecting rod 46.v The pressure arms 59 and 60 being connected to the levers 41 and 45 above their respective pivoting points are forced in-' v wardly until their points 69 enter the slight recess between the lower cap and the one next above while their pressure faces 61 and 62 bear against and hold the caps immediately above the lowerone. Further movement of the levers 41 and 45 simply.

. forces the heads 68 of the lever 63 and 64 from beneath the lower cap vand allow the same to drop on to the can which has produced-the aforesaid movement of the escapement mechanism. The parts have now come to the relative positlon shown in Fig. 5.

- It will be understood of course that the adjustment of parts is such that the ulti mate releaseIwill take place just in time to allow the cap to drop squarely over the hole in the can top it is to cover. I-twill be noted particularly from Fig. 1 that the bridge 21 is cut away at .thelower part of the opening 46 in front and rear so that after a cap has had the holding fingers 51 and 52 withdrawn from beneath it there will be no opportunity for the cap to strike against any part of the opening 46 but will drop in a horizontal position with regularity.-

I prefer to have the bridge 21 as close down tothe top of the cans asis possible so that the can caps will have only asmall fraction of an inch to fall. It will be evident, however, that as the caps move simply from; their own weight to the can a fraction of a second must be allowed for this movement and therefore theultimate release of the can cap must be made a long enough time before the can comes to its position directly underneath the cancap to allow for the constant forward motion of the can. The rate of this forward movement of the can will vary according to the speed with which the cans are being advanced by the carrier chain which may vary greatly from anywhere between thirty to one hundred and fifty a minute. To provide a ready adjustment to meet this varying speed I have providecl the set screw 33 whereby the active length of lever 29 carrying the arm 34 and the disk 35 making contact withthe'can may be varied slightly. If the cans are ad vancing rapidly the disk 35 must be pushed fully back somewhat before the can has come directly under the cap to be received in order that the cap when released may fall directly and properly in position upon the can.

After the. can has received its cap and passed on the weight 39 causes the upper end of lever 36 to return to normal position carrying therewith disk 35 into the path of the cans ready for the next can while the same inward movement of lever 36 has moved the lower end of levers 41 and 45 inwardly and their upper ends outwardly whereby in an obvious manner the holding fingers 51 and 52 have been again extended into the opening t6 and then the pressure arms 59 and 60 are withdrawn until their pressure faces 61 and 62 and their points 69 are entirely clear of the opening 16 and will thereby allow the column of caps to drop upon the inwardly extending ends 53 and 5-1 of the holding fingers 51 and 52. Then the parts will be again in normal or original position as shown particularly in Figs. 1, 3 and 1.

The operation of the pivotally mounted bridge 21 and the attached parts is as follows: If a can 12 comes through upon the can advancing passage in some displaced condition so that its upper part is higher than usual, as by the can being at an angle instead of standing up straight on its bottom or through the can resting upon one of the carrier clips 14, the part of the can projecting above the height of the opening under the bridge 21 will come into camming engagement with the lower slanting face 70 of a projection 71 extending rearwardly from the central portion of the bridge 21. The face 70 slants from the level of the lower side of bridge 21 upwardly as said face extends to the rear as plainly indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The advancing can by this camming engagement with face 70 raises the bridge 21 with all its attached parts through the pivotal joint connecting arms 17 and 18 and upper arms 19 and 20 at their rear ends, a suiiicient distance to enable the can 12 to pass beneath the bridge 21. As soon as such misplaced can passes out from beneath the bridge 21, the bridge will fall to its usual position. The gentle slope of the camming face 70 and the length of the pivotally mounted upper arms 19 and 20 cause the bridge 21 and its attached parts to be easily raised by such displaced can so that the bridge will be raised by the can without the can being further displaced or knocked over. The slot 40 at the upper end of perpendicular lever 36 affords a sliding pivotal connection with the headed projection 12 at the lower end of the lever 41 so that as said lever 41 rises or falls with the upward and downward movement of bridge 21 operative connection between the lever 36 and lever/t1 is not disturbed. In

this way the fingers 51 and 52 and sliding arms 59 and 60 will operate with the bridge in a raised position and will not have their normal operation at all interfered with through the rise and fall of said bridge and its attached parts.

W hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A can capping machine comprising a can-advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps terminating directly over the cap-receiving position of said cans, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap-receiver and yieldingly tensioned to project into operative position and support the lower cap, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver, substantially parallel to the lower cap-supporting means and yieldingly tensioned to be inoperative but adapted to be extended and support the caps above the lower one and means actuated by a passing can to successively bring the upper cap supporting means into operative position, to move the lower cap-supporting means to inoperative position and allow the lower cap to fall upon the can thereunder and to return said lower cap-supporting means to operative position and then said upper capsupporting means to inoperative position and allow said stack of caps to fall to said lower supporting means.

2. A can capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps terminating directly over the cap-receiving position of said cans, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver yieldingly tensioned to project into operative position and support the lower cap, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver, yieldingly tensioned to be inoperative but adapted to be extended and support the caps above the lower one by contact with their edges, and means actuated by a passing can to successively bring the upper cap-supporting means into operative position, to move the lower capsupporting means to inoperative position and allow the lower cap to fall upon the can thereunder and to return said lower cap supporting means to operative position and thensaid upper cap-supporting means to inoperative position and allow said stack of caps to fall to said lower-supporting means.

3. A can capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps terminating directly over the cap-receiving position of said cans, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver yieldingly tensioned to project into operative position and support the lower cap, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver and yieldingly tensioned to be inoperative but adapted to be extended and support the caps above the lower one by pressure-exerting contact with their edges, and means actuated by a passing canto successively bring the upper cap-supporting means into operative position, to move the lower cap-supporting means to inoperative position and allow the lower cap to fall upon the can thereunderand to return said lower cap-supporting means to operative position and then said up-per cap.support ing means to inoperative position and allow said stack of caps to fall to said lowersupporting means.

4:. A can capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps terminating directly over the cap-receiving position ofsaid cans, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver, yieldingly tensioned to project into operative position 'and support the lower cap, means radially reciprocating relative to the cap receiver substantially parallel to the lower cap-supporting means and yieldingly tensioned to be inoperative but adapted to be extended and support the caps above the lower one, and operative means to successively bring the upper cap-supporting means into operative position, to move the lower cap-supporting means to inoperative position and allow the lower cap to fall upon the can thereunder and to return said lower cap-supporting meansto operative position and then said upper capsupporting means to inoperative position, and allow said stack of caps to fall to said lower-supporting means, said operative means including a slngle movlng member "and separate operative connections therefrom to said upper" cap-supporting means and to said lower cap-supporting means.

5; A can-capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over said passage, an escapement de can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over said passage, an escapement device supporting the caps in saldreceiver and adapted to drop them one at a time therefrom, means for operating said escapement device and "a member carrying said escapement deviceand said cap receiver and being pivotally mounted with'a horizontal axis extending transversely of the direction of the movement of the cans in said canadvancing passage and substantially on 1 a level with the top of the cans and spaced from said escapement device, whereby said member is adapted to Imove upwardly on pressure from a passing can. v

:7. A can-cappingmachine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over'said passage, an escapement dc vice supporting the caps in said receiver and, adapted to drop them. one at a time therefrom, means for operating said escapement device and a member carryingsaid escapement device and said cap receiver provided with an arm extending substantially in the direction of the movement of the cans in the can-passage and pivotally mounted at its farther end on an axis transverse of said direction whereby said member is adapted to move upwardly on pressure from a passing can. Y

8. A can-capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over said passage,an escapement de-.

' vice supporting the caps in said receiver and adapted to drop them one at a time there from, means for operating said escapement device including a member actuated by a passing can and adapted to be adjusted relatively to the adva'ncingcan during the operation of the machine.

9. A can-capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over said passage, an escapement device supporting the caps in said receiver and adapted to drop them one at a'time therefrom, meansfor operating said escapement device including a member actuated by a passing can and adapted to be adjusted during theoperation of the machine according to the speed of the advancing cans.

10. Acan-capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over said passage, an escapement device supporting the caps in said receiver and adaptedto drop them one at a time therei from, means for operating said escapement device including a member actuated bv a passing can and adapted to be adjusted longitudinally of the can advancing passage.

V 11. A can-capping machine comprising a can advancing passage, a receiver for a stack of caps over-"said passage, an escapement de.- vice supporting the caps in said receiver and adapted to drop them one at a time therefrom, means for operating said escapement device including a member actuated bv a passing can and adapted to be admsted durmg the operation of the machine so that the cap will fall to. the can to by the time the can top opening comes'under said cap. 12. A can-cappmg machme comprising a can advancing passage. a receiver-for a stack of capsover said passage. anescapement device supporting the caps in said receiver and adaptedto drop them one at a. time therefrom, means for operating said escapement device including a member actuated by av nature, in the presence of two Witnesses, this passing can and adafpted to be adjusted dur- 24:- day of April, 1912. ing tie operation 0 the machine according to the speed of the advancing can so that the EDWVARD HUGUNINE' 5 cap will fall to the can top by the time the \Vitnesses:

can top opening comes under said cap. I JAMES E. BREMER,

In Witness whereof I have aflixed my sig- HARRIET WILLIAMs.

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